Queues

Queues. What is it about queues that brings about the kind of vile hostility in a civilised society like ours?

It’s that one word which every Indian detests wholeheartedly. There seems to be a queue for everything that not one person willingly adheres to. Thereupon, giving rise to a syndicate of ‘lane cutters’. While others may deem it to be an unethical practice, these ‘lane cutters’ quite unabashedly, claim themselves to be some sort of VIPs. VIP or not, the only queue they give some regard to (sans the lament about the growing Indian population) is the queue for entering the temples. There are people of all statuses and from different walks of life, awaiting their chance to seek the blessings of God. I was one among them too.

I stood there, waiting patiently for people to finish giving their spiel of an extensive wish list to God so that I could supplicate my own. Then, my focus shifted to this little girl that stood right ahead of me, growing more and more impatient and bombarding her mother with a slew of questions about God. Her mother, with a great sigh of resignation, eventually gave up on answering her. While her father, he held his patience high and took it upon himself to answer his little girl.

“What is he saying?” She asked her father, pointing to the man in front of them. The said man was chanting, “Ekamsatt”.

“He’s saying that all Gods are one” the father explained, interpreting it for his daughter.

The stranger who was eavesdropping on this conversation, turned around with a humble smile and enquired, “So what will you ask the God for?” That got the girl’s ears to perk up.

“Why should I ask for anything at all?” she asked curiously.

“Well, He is the God that takes away all your problems and gets rid of all the obstacles. That is His specialization.” The stranger explained.

“Specialisation? Gods have specialisations?” she asked incredulously.

“Oh yes! Of course they do. He is the God that gets rid of all obstacles. Then there is a God of strength, a goddess of wealth, a goddess of knowledge, a God that created the entire universe among many others. Each God has His or Her own specialisation, so if you ask this God what you want He will give it to you.” The stranger remarked with a serene smile.

“But what if I want strength? This God doesn’t specialise in that, does he?” the girl challenged.

“Then this God will express your wish to the God of strength and He will fulfill your wish.” the man answered.

The parents of the girl were surprised and relieved at the same time. “Finally someone to answer my daughter’s ceaseless round of questioning. May all the Gods bless his humble soul.” thought the mother internally.

The little girl, however, wasn’t quite pleased. She looked at her father, nonplussed, “But father, wasn’t he just saying All Gods are one?”

I did everything in my entire being, to stop myself from laughing. Well, I can’t say that I was successful, but I tried.

There is no one person who will believe you as unequivocally as a child would. So, a word of advice? Be extremely careful of what you say because whether you mean it or not, a child will take your word for it. Your word is the Gospel truth.

 Nobody within earshot cared enough to answer or even pay a lick of attention to the girl.Undoubtedly, the parents seemed embarrassed but their feisty bundle of a girl. Regrettably, she was the only one who voiced a question we all have thought of and never bothered to ask.

~Disha Sawant, SYBA.